Avery's Pond via the Pioneer Express Trail

Avery's Pond via the Pioneer Express Trail is a 7.5 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Newcastle, California that features a lake and is good for all skill levels. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.

DISTANCE

7.5 miles

ELEVATION GAIN

636 feet

ROUTE TYPE

Out & Back

dogs on leash

kid friendly

birding

fishing

hiking

horseback riding

nature trips

trail running

walking

lake

views

wild flowers

wildlife

The start of the trail is not clearly marked and it cost $12 to get into the park. However, the $12 does allow all day access to Folsom Lake.
To find the trail to Avery's Pond it's best to park in the equestrian parking. The trail is, for the most part, shaded and this time of year has lovely wildflowers, butterflies, and caterpillars. The pond is a sweet spot with plenty of rainbow trout.

This is a favorite trail of mine. I don’t even think it is moderately busy. I rarely encounter anyone. It does have a cougar alert posting. That keeps me from going alone most of the time. I have only seen one cougar in my life up close and this was the region.

The pond is lovely ... the river is flowing... it is a lovely out and back. There are also several little side trails to venture off and explore.

So, two parts to this. Great, absolutely AMAZING AND BEAUTIFUL Hike for seasoned hikers and fit persons. Not a hike for children, and your dog WILL get covered in ticks. A wonderful part of God’s Creation, but not for the faint of heart or light of feet.It’s 14 miles round trip, and I had a 7, 14, and 16 year old with me. Oh, and this was their fist hike. Please know, you’ve been warned.

We had a great time here! There are lots of opportunities to hike shore-side, when the water levels permit, and beat your own path - the trail is great too! Well shaded for a good portion along the trail but not many places to pull off and relax if you’re looking for a lot of open, private picnic space. There were tons of horses along this trail when we went so something to be aware of if you have dogs that spook or are personally not comfortable. Overall, it was a great way to spend a couples hours over the weekend!

Only tricky part, almost forgot, is parking. If you enter in from the residential side, you won’t be able to park too close to the trail, but you can park in the neighbor about 2-3 streets from the gate though. Be mindful of the parking restrictions because the neighbors said they do ticket and tow.

The beginning of the trail is not very clearly marked. Parts of the trail seemed to diverge but again, no obvious markings or signs on where each leads to. I had to check on the AllTrails app once in a while with GPS to know that I was on the right path. Mostly shaded path though parts of the trail can be quite narrow. Access to Folsom Lake is possible if you look for forked paths around the pond. The pond itself, however, wasn’t much of a view in late summer when we visited. Our 5-yr-old had no trouble completing the trail. It was an easy hike for the older kids (7 & up).

The start of the trail is not clearly marked and it cost $12 to get into the park. However, the $12 does allow all day access to Folsom Lake, pretty nice. To find the trail to Avery's Pond it's best to park in the equestrian parking. The trail is, for the most part, shaded and this time of year has lovely wildflowers, butterflies, and caterpillars. The pond is a sweet spot with plenty of rainbow trout. Overall very nice.

Holy roasted ticks Batman!!! The lower trail is not just muddy, a lot of it has been blocked by fallen trees, landslides, etc. we had to eventually climb up the face of hills, because we ran out of trail to hike. when we finally got home, our dog had 8 ticks. she does have flea and tick treatment. if you plan on going on this hike, do not bring your pets, and stay on the main trail. it may be a lot of incline, but it is much safer, especially for inexperienced hikers.

Great trail for a run but definitely not a good one to bring a dog to. We had to turn back half way to the pond due to all of the ticks. Would try it again to see the pond but definitely without our dog.

Lynn S.

hiking

Sunday, August 07, 2016

The trail to Avery's Pond was a nice easy hike. Not many people on the trail today. Most of trail was shaded. Lots of poison oak like others mentioned. Pond area is peaceful. Great day hike for any level hiker.

Anne Z.

hiking

Monday, June 20, 2016

There is no parking at the trailhead. You can park on a side street a few blocks west. There is a lot of poison oak so beware. It is well shaded with lovely views of the lake. After you pass the boat launch, the trail is easy to confuse. If there isn't a lot of horse poop, you are on the wrong trail. It is the Pony Express trail so it has horses on it often.

Decent hike and nice pond at the end. There's not much to see on the hike, and the trail is pretty narrow for the most part. Keep an eye out for poison oak! The pond is nice and looked like it would be great for fishing, but my friends and I walked right over to the lake where there was a great spot to stop and swim. The water was perfect. There was also a parking lot about halfway along the trail, so if you want an easier hike or want to fish you could halve your distance. Good trail overall, the lake is always close and there are plenty of paths leading to it.

I'm really not sure what all the other people were talking about when they said this place was hard to find. I was bike riding with my iPhone's gps and rode miles to get there but had no trouble whatsoever finding the entrance. It's just at the end of a dead end street. The trails are pretty nice but quite narrow. There is quite a bit of horse poop as others said but that's really no biggie at all considering you're in the nature.

I went for hiking. There was no parking so I had to park about 3 blocks away. There was a good amount of horse poop on the trail and I also got lost several times as there are no signs and many forks on the trail.